Isaiah 53:10

THE FIFTH STANZA

"Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

"He shall prolong his days ..." (Isaiah 53:10). For one who was indeed put to death, this is undeniably a prophecy of his resurrection from the dead. By no other means, whatever, could it be said that of one who had poured out his soul unto death that he would "prolong his days." As Christ himself stated it: "I am the first and the last and the Living one; and I was dead, and, behold, I am alive forever more, and I have the keys of death and of Hades" (Revelation 1:18).

This stanza points to the glorification which God appointed for the Suffering Servant after the sufferings ended, constituting the problem that remained insoluble for the pre-Christian prophets. See 1 Peter 1;10-12. Added to the exaltation prophesied in the first stanza, the eternity of The Lord Jesus Christ is clearly visible.

This last stanza makes the worldwide success of Christ the marvel of all ages. He shall see his seed, number his followers in the countless millions; he shall prolong his days, be raised from the dead; the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand, 1e., righteousness shall prosper in the world; he shall justify many, 1e., countless millions shall be saved from their sins through him; I will divide him a portion with the great, Jesus Christ shall attain worldwide and perpetual "greatness." In connection with this it should be remembered that all history falls into A.D. and B.C, and that more great and beautiful buildings have been constructed and dedicated to his glory in a single century than were ever erected and dedicated to all the kings and potentates who ever lived in the previous millenniums of human history, etc.

"He was numbered with the transgressors and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). This prophecy was fulfilled by the Saviour himself when he prayed for those who nailed him to the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Once, as this writer traveled southward on the Missouri-Pacific from St. Louis to Little Rock, a Unitarian noticed my reading the New Testament; and he said: "You Christians have your arithmetic all wrong. How could the atoning sacrifice of one man wipe out the sins of billions of men'"?.

The reply was: "Indeed, you are right. The sacrifice of one man would not even wipe out that one man's sins, much less the sins of all men. Your mistake, Sir, is in your failure to see that Jesus Christ was in no sense whatever only one man. He was and is The Son of God, God manifested in the flesh; and that Holy Being's atoning sacrifice was more than sufficient to wipe out the sins of all the myriads of men who ever lived." This answer left the questioner without reply.